Earlier in the week, Wenger had described his pessimism at the chances of sealing a late deal, but is confident that his squad will cope without the 31-year-old.

He said: "Barca do not want to sell David Villa. They've made that very clear. What's important is to buy players who can strengthen the squad. Otherwise, you do nothing. We have enough numbers, quality strikers."

Manchester City were also linked with a late bid as Mario Balotelli departed for AC Milan, but that did not materialise into a firm bid.

Friday, 1 February 2013 08:00

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David Villa, Isco & the ones that got away in January

David Villa, Isco & the ones that got away in January

Plenty of big deals were completed in the January transfer window, but there were others that agonisingly slipped through clubs' fingers - Goal.com looks at the biggest deals that did not happen over the past month.